The Blinding Sparkle of the Swords

The Blinding Sparkle of the Swords

The Blinding Sparkle of the Swords

Dear readers, may Allah the Glorified and Exalted always bestow His mercy upon us all. One of the portrait of reality that was engraved in the history of Islam, is a monumental event that will never be forgotten by those who claimed themselves as true muslims. It is an event that depicted the clash between the two opposite sides; between the truth and evil, between decent men and vile ones, the nobles against the despicable ones. The muslims who loved peace, against the infidels who were fond of chaos. A heartbreaking tragedy which contained important and valuable lesson for a true Muslim, about the advice and orders (sunnah) of the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-. A bloody incidents of gunfire between the Muslims against the idolaters of Quraysh which occurred in the month of Shawwal, third year after the Hijra. The event was known as the battle of Uhud. Below is the summary of its story:

Background of the battle

The Dark cloud of grief was still engulfing the city of Mecca. It was undeniable that the idolaters of Quraish were unable to hide their miseries due to their ultimate loss in the previous battle of Badr, the second year after the Hijra. Their hearts were severely broken. The news of their defeat spread fast to all corners of Mecca, just like clouds that covered the empty parts of the sky during the rainy season. The sad news was like an earthquake that shook the heads of those idolaters. Unfortunately, the total defeat that they suffered still couldn’t change their ruthless attitude towards the muslims. Instead, fiery resentment stuck firmly in their hearts, and the death of many prominent Quraysh figures who were socially stratified high, on that fateful event, even progressively increased their hatred against the muslims.

Preparation of the Quraish Troops

The prominent figures of Quraish, such as Ikrimah Ibn Abu Jahl, Shafwan Ibn Umayya, and Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb -before they embraced Islam- stood up as the pioneers who were very keen to spark the fire of revenge to Islam and its followers. Those prominent orators of Arab took accurate steps to smoothen the path of their revenge. At first, they prohibited the people of Mecca to mourn the death of victims of the battle of Badr, then they postponed the retribution to the muslims, to free the prisoner from Quraish that were still left in Medina. They busily raised the funds to support their plan of revenge. They came to the owner of the caravans of Quraish, who was the main cause of the battle of Badr, saying, “O people of Quraish! Indeed, Muhammad has tortured you and killed your important figures! So help us with your wealth to revenge him! May we succeed in revenging to them! ”

Their plan was warmly welcomed by the people of Quraish, and they collected in a very short time, the war funding of 1000 camels and 50.000 dinars.

As Allah the Glorified and Exalted decreed in the thirty-sixth verse of chapter Al Anfal:

“Surely those who deny the Truth spend their wealth to hinder people from the Way of Allah….”

Day by day, their efforts seemed to yield significant result, because just in one year time, they were able to gather the troops three times larger than the number of the troops of the previous year (in the battle of Badr), plus sufficient amount of war facilities of 3000 camels, 200 horses, and 700 hundreds armors. The total number of the troops was no less than 3000 personnels plus fifteen women who were tasked to rekindle their fighting spirit and dispel the personnels who ran backward.

The highest-ranked chief of the Quraish troops was Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb, whereas the cavalry was commanded by Khalid Ibn Al Walid and Ikrimah Ibn Abu Jahl, and their banners were held by the war master from the tribe of Bani Abdud Dar, and the women were coordinated by Hindun bintu ‘Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan. Their preparation this time felt enough and complete, and their great number of troops moved forward to Medina, full with wrath and resentment, bearing the mission to revenge and fulfill the evil desires.

The Arrival of the News to The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-

He received a secret letter from Al Abbas Ibn Abdul Mutthalib, his uncle who, at that time, still resided in Mecca. That time, the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was in Quba, and he asked Ubay Ibn Ka’b to read the letter for him, and keep its content as a secret. He rushed to Medina to hold a military preparation to welcome those ‘unexpected guests’.

As the gushing wind, the news of the Quraish’s movement spread to all parts of Medina, thus caused the condition of that city to tense in sudden; the residents of that city became very alert, every man didn’t loose his weapon even when he prayed, to the extent that they spent the night in front of their doors hugging their weapons.

The military council

The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- gathered his companions, saying, “By Allah, indeed, I’ve seen a good sign, I’ve seen a slaughtered cow, my sword was blunt, and I entered my hand into my armor. I interpreted the cow as the death of a group of my companions, my blunt sword as the death of one of my family members, whereas the armor as Medina.”

The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- opted to stay inside the city of Medina, and accept the enemy’s challenge on the opening of the alleys of Medina. His opinion was echoed by the notorious figure of the hypocrites, Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, the enemy of Allah. He opted for this opinion not because of the military strategy that he knew, but because it would help him to run from the battle easier without anyone noticing him.

As for the majority of the companions, they tended to accept the challenge of the Quraish outside of Medina, due to the reason that many of them were unable to take part in the battle of Badr hence they didn’t want to miss this chance to get the share of the most excellent deed in Islam. Hamzah Ibn Abdul Mutthalib strongly supported this opinion, and he said, “By He Who sent down the Qur’an to you, indeed, I wont eat until I cut them into pieces, outside of Medina.”

Considering the ideas of his companions, finally the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- decided to answer the challenge of the Quraish on the open space outside of Medina, and dropped the opinion of Abdullah Ibn Ubay.

That day, Friday, the 6th of Shawwal, year 3 of Hijra, he preached in front of his companions to boost their spirit and devotion, and told them that Allah would send down His aid due to their patience. Then they prayed the Ashr prayer, and he went into his house with Abu Bakr and Umar Ibn Khaththab. At that time, he wore his armor and prepared his weapons.

The companions felt sorry for their attitude that seemingly had forced the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- to go out of Medina. When the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- went out of his house, they said, “O Messenger of Allah, we didn’t mean to disagree with your view, now decide as you wish! If you prefer to stay defending in Medina, do it!”. He replied, “It is inappropriate for a prophet to undo the armor that he has donned, before Allah gives His decision between him and his enemy.”

The general condition of the muslims

The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- divided the muslim force into three battalions: The emigrants battalion was led by Mush’ab Ibn Umair, the Aus battalion was commanded by Usaid Ibn Hudhair, and the Khazraj battalion was led by Khabban Ibn Al Mundzir. The total number of them in this battle was 1000, with minimum facilities of 100 armors and 50 horses (it was said in a report: without any horses at all). And Allah knows best.

When the muslim troops reached a place named Asy Syaikhan, the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- selected a few of his companions who were still very young at that time (to return to Medina, -ed), among them were Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn Al Khathab, Usamah Ibn Zayd, Zayd Ibn Tsabit, Abu Said Al Khudry, and several others of the young companions. Inevitably, sadness was written all over their faces and unwillingly they departed back to Medina.

The hypocrites deflated the Spirit of the muslims

Quibbled that his opinion was rejected by the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-, the prominent figure of the hypocrites, Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, tried to deflate the spirit of the muslim troops. This enemy of Allah succeeded to provoke almost one third of the troops, and no less than 300 personnels fled from this jihad. This two faced man was deliberately did his action in the middle of their journey, so that he was able to scare them and simultaneously, rip as many as possible of the muslim force.

The military strategy of the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- and the task of the troops

The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-, the master of military strategy, arranged the troops and divided their tasks and missions among them. He posted 50 archers at the Ainan hill as the snipers, under the commando of Abdullah Ibn Jubair Ibn Nu’man Al Anshary. He gave them military instruction and said, “Attack them with your arrows! Don’t leave your post no matter what the condition will be! Protect our backs with your arrows! Don’t descend to help us although we were killed! And don’t join us although we got the spoils of war!”. In the narration of Bukhari, he said, “Don’t leave your post although you see the birds had snatched us until my messenger came to you!”.

When they reached Uhud, both forces were moving closer, the captain of the Quraish, Abu Sufyan, tried to break the unity of the muslims, thus he said to the Anshar, “Let us settle our problem with the sons of our uncles (The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- and the emigrants)! Then we wont disturb you, we have no interest to fight you!”.

But his attempt was fruitless because of the firm believe of the Anshar people. Instead, they returned his words with stinging words that enraged those who heard them.

The Beginning of the Battle

Thalhah Ibn Abi Thalhah Al Abdary, the bearer of the Quraish’s war banner was well-known as a skilled and brave man. He went forward to challenge the muslims to duel, which was responded swiftly by Zubair Ibn Awwam who leapt onto him, hurtled him down and slitted his throat. Thalhah went helpless and breathed his last breath. The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- recited the takbeer and the muslims did the same. Then stood Abu Syaiba Uthman Ibn Abi Thalhah to wave the banner, and arrogantly he challenge the muslims to duel, which was responded with lightning speed by Hamzah Ibn Abdul Mutthalib, who hit his shoulder with magnificent strength thus his thrust cut until his navel, and inevitably his hand and shoulder were separated from his body, and Uthman fell helplessly, dying. Next was Abu Sa’d Ibn Abi Thalhah who took the banner but in the same time, the arrow of Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqash penetrated his throat thus he fell dead to the ground, while still sticked his tongue out. Musafi’ Ibn Abi Thalhah braved himself to again raise the banner of Quraish, but he was killed in instant by the sharp arrow of Ashim Ibn Tsabit Ibn Abul Aflah. Next was Kilab Ibn Thalhah Ibn Abi Thalhah, brother of Musafi’, who went to wave the banner of Quraish, but he too fell soon to the ground to the end of his life after the sword of Zubair Ibn Al Awwam sliced his body. Al Jallas Ibn Abi Thalhah immediately took the banner, but the swing of the sword of Thalhah Ibn Ubaidillah took his life away from his body in no time. The six brave men were from one family of the tribe of Abdi Dar. Then Arthah Ibn Syurahbil move forward but Ali Ibn Abi Thalib didn’t let him live for long to hold the banner and immediately killed him. A spectacular fact, which was curious but real, that none of the idolaters who tried to take the banner but to meet his death, until ten of them died around their war banner. After that, none of them was brave enough to take the banner that was left lying on the field of Uhud.

And Allah knows best.

Author: Editorial team of bulletin “Al Ilmu”

Article of www.Whatisquran.com

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